The 1997–98 QMJHL season was the 29th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Quebec Remparts name was revived after twelve years when the Beauport Harfangs changed identities. The QMJHL continued to grow in eastern markets, with an expansion team in Baie-Comeau and the relocating of the Granby Prédateurs to Cape Breton.
The league inaugurated the Philips Plaque, awarded to the player with the best faceoff percentage. The Ford Cups were renamed the Telus Cups, one each for the offensive and defensive players of the year.
Fifteen teams played 70 games each in the schedule. The Quebec Remparts finished first overall in the regular season winning their first Jean Rougeau Trophy, since the original name was revived. The Val-d'Or Foreurs won their first President's Cup, defeating the Rimouski Océanic in the finals.
Team changes The Baie-Comeau Drakkar joined the league as an expansion franchise. The Beauport Harfangs relocated from the nearby suburbs, to Quebec City, becoming the second incarnation of the Quebec Remparts. The Granby Prédateurs relocated to Sydney, Nova Scotia, becoming the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and switched to the Dilio Division. The Shawinigan Cataractes switched to the Lebel Division. The Victoriaville Tigres switched to the Lebel Division.
Final standings Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against
Dilio Division GP W L T Pts GF GA Quebec Remparts 70 46 18 6 98 285 204 Rimouski Océanic 70 40 27 3 83 296 257 Chicoutimi Saguenéens 70 36 33 1 73 272 285 Moncton Wildcats 70 29 32 9 67 240 229 Halifax Mooseheads 70 24 41 5 53 263 316 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 70 19 46 5 43 211 295 Baie-Comeau Drakkar 70 18 47 5 41 215 332
Lebel Division GP W L T Pts GF GA Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 70 43 23 4 90 338 245 Victoriaville Tigres 70 40 23 7 87 274 209 Shawinigan Cataractes 70 40 24 6 86 262 217 Val-d'Or Foreurs 70 37 26 7 81 263 228 Laval Titan Collège Français 70 37 28 5 79 276 220 Hull Olympiques 70 32 37 1 65 270 268 Sherbrooke Faucons 70 26 41 3 55 220 273 Drummondville Voltigeurs 70 23 44 3 49 221 328 complete list of standings.
Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Ramzi Abid Chicoutimi Saguenéens 685085135 266 Pierre Dagenais Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 60666713350Mike Ribeiro Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 674085125 55 Mathieu Benoit Chicoutimi Saguenéens 595661117 32 Vincent Lecavalier Rimouski Océanic 584471115117 Brad Richards Rimouski Océanic 68338211544 Sebastien Roger Moncton Wildcats 70536111464 David Gosselin Chicoutimi Saguenéens 694664110139Derrick Walser Rimouski Océanic 704169110 135 David Thibeault Victoriaville Tigres 70465610295 complete scoring statistics
Playoffs Jean-Pierre Dumont was the leading scorer of the playoffs with 46 points (31 goals, 15 assists).
Division quarterfinals Quebec Remparts defeated Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4 games to 0. Rimouski Océanic defeated Halifax Mooseheads 4 games to 1. Moncton Wildcats defeated Chicoutimi Saguenéens 4 games to 2. Hull Olympiques defeated Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 4 games to 2. Laval Titan Collège Français defeated Victoriaville Tigres 4 games to 2. Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Shawinigan Cataractes 4 games to 2.
Division semifinals - Round-robin Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against
Dilio Division GP W L T Pts GF GA Rimouski Océanic 4 3 1 0 6 24 14 Quebec Remparts 4 2 2 0 4 16 20 Moncton Wildcats 4 1 3 0 2 11 17 Lebel Division GP W L T Pts GF GA Val-d'Or Foreurs 4 2 2 0 4 19 17 Laval Titan Collège Français ‡ 5 3 2 0 6 16 15 Hull Olympiques ‡ 5 2 3 0 4 18 21 ‡ Laval Titan Collège Français defeated Hull Olympiques in a one-game playoff to determine 2nd place in the round-robin standings.
Division finals Rimouski Océanic defeated Quebec Remparts 4 games to 2. Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Laval Titan Collège Français 4 games to 1.
Presidents Cup Finals Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Rimouski Océanic 4 games to 0.
Division Quarterfinals
Lebel Division
(L1) Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. (L6) Hull Olympiques
(L2) Victoriaville Tigres vs. (L5) Laval Titan Collège Français
(L3) Shawinigan Cataractes vs. (L4) Val-d'Or Foreurs
Dilio Division
(D1) Quebec Remparts vs. (D6) Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
(D2) Rimouski Océanic vs. (D5) Halifax Mooseheads
(L3) Chicoutimi Saguenéens vs. (L4) Moncton Wildcats
Division Semifinals
April 1
Lebel Division
Dilio Division
April 2
April 3
Lebel Division
Dilio Division
April 4
April 5
April 6
Lebel Division
Dilio Division
April 7
Lebel Division
Dilio Division
April 8
April 9
Division Finals
Lebel Division
(L4) Val-d'Or Foreurs vs. (L5) Laval Titan Collège Français
Dilio Division
(D1) Quebec Remparts vs. (D2) Rimouski Océanic
President's Cup Finals
(D2) Rimouski Océanic vs. (L4) Val-d'Or Foreurs
All-star teams First team Goaltender - Mathieu Garon, Victoriaville Tigres Left defence - Derrick Walser, Rimouski Océanic Right defence - Remi Royer, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Left winger - Ramzi Abid, Chicoutimi Saguenéens Centreman - Vincent Lecavalier, Rimouski Océanic Right winger - Mathieu Benoit, Chicoutimi Saguenéens Coach - Guy Chouinard, Quebec Remparts
Second team Goaltender - Patrick Couture, Quebec Remparts Left defence - Alexei Tezikov, Moncton Wildcats Right defence - Jonathan Girard, Laval Titan Collège Français Left winger - Pierre Dagenais, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Centreman - Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Right winger - Sebastien Roger, Moncton Wildcats Coach - Claude Julien, Hull Olympiques
Rookie team Goaltender - Jean-Marc Pelletier, Rimouski Océanic Left defence - Alexei Tezikov, Moncton Wildcats Right defence - Mathieu Biron, Shawinigan Cataractes Left winger - Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic Centreman - Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Right winger - Michael Ryder, Hull Olympiques Coach - Christian Larue, Chicoutimi Saguenéens List of First/Second/Rookie team all-stars.
Trophies and awards Team President's Cup - Playoff Champions, Val-d'Or Foreurs Jean Rougeau Trophy - Regular Season Champions, Quebec Remparts Robert Lebel Trophy - Team with best GAA, Quebec Remparts
Player Michel Brière Memorial Trophy - Most Valuable Player, Ramzi Abid, Chicoutimi Saguenéens Jean Béliveau Trophy - Top Scorer, Ramzi Abid, Chicoutimi Saguenéens Guy Lafleur Trophy - Playoff MVP, Jean-Pierre Dumont, Val-d'Or Foreurs Telus Cup – Offensive - Offensive Player of the Year, Pierre Dagenais, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Telus Cup – Defensive - Defensive Player of the Year, Mathieu Garon, Victoriaville Tigres AutoPro Plaque - Best plus/minus total, David Thibeault, Victoriaville Tigres Philips Plaque - Best faceoff percentage, Eric Demers, Victoriaville Tigres Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy - Best GAA, Mathieu Garon, Victoriaville Tigres Emile Bouchard Trophy - Defenceman of the Year, Derrick Walser, Rimouski Océanic Mike Bossy Trophy - Best Pro Prospect, Vincent Lecavalier, Rimouski Océanic RDS Cup - Rookie of the Year, Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Michel Bergeron Trophy - Offensive Rookie of the Year, Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Raymond Lagacé Trophy - Defensive Rookie of the Year, Alexei Tezikov, Moncton Wildcats Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy - Most sportsmanlike player, Simon Laliberte, Moncton Wildcats QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year - Humanitarian of the Year, David Thibeault, Victoriaville Tigres Marcel Robert Trophy - Best Scholastic Player, Michel Tremblay, Shawinigan Cataractes Paul Dumont Trophy - Personality of the Year, Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Executive Ron Lapointe Trophy - Coach of the Year, Guy Chouinard, Quebec Remparts John Horman Trophy - Executive of the Year, Lionel Brochu, Val-d'Or Foreurs St-Clair Group Plaque - Marketing Director of the Year, Jeff Rose, Moncton Wildcats
See also 1998 Memorial Cup 1998 NHL entry draft 1997–98 OHL season 1997–98 WHL season
References Official QMJHL Website www.hockeydb.com/